Health Programme

Over the past 12 months IDEALS have continued to develop its collaboration with other health organisations, with Mr Andrew Ferguson our Technical and Medical advisor utilising his experience to help manage CAMP’s health programme in Pakistan. The following commentary is a summary of the projects he has been involved with:

The priority setting (for construction work and purchase of equipment for key health facilities throughout FATA) process is now complete and a formal procurement process has begun. We are now developing resources for the training component of the project, which will focus on emergency care and major disaster response, as well as considering options for an expansion of the project over the next three years.

As a result of increasing beneficiary numbers (the camp population has again climbed to over 90,000 as a result of an escalation in the conflict between government and extremist forces in FATA) the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked us to establish a second health centre at Jalozai in May 2012, working alongside the four centres operated by MERLIN. Both our centres are seeing an average of 175 patients per day and recently received an extremely positive evaluation from the WHO (the current donor). Funding is secure until mid July 2013 and further grant applications have already been submitted to the WHO for another six month project extension. The need remains high, as demonstrated by a recent and extremely worrying rise in the level of acute childhood malnutrition within the camp.

Health Recovery Project, Charsadda and Nowshera Districts, KP

The second phase of this project will be completed by the end of September 2013, with a further 11 (one more than originally planned) health facilities repaired/re-equipped and a further 443 government health workers attached to these facilities (lady health workers and paramedics) having received our intensive maternal/child health training programme. The project is on track and we have just received confirmation that the German government will fund phase three, which will see another eight health facilities repaired/re-equipped and 400 government health workers trained in the 12 month period from October 2013.

Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Centre, Lower Dir District, KP

The project closed as originally planned at the end of the ARI season, but will hopefully be launched again next year.

The refurbishment of the school’s maternal and child health centre and administrative block was completed in December 2012. On a further positive note our midwifery graduates finally received their professional certificates from the Pakistan Nursing Council in November 2012, were formally allocated to their work areas by the FATA Health Directorate and are now receiving their small monthly government salary: two years after they completed their training but great news nevertheless!

New/Potential Projects

CAMP has just signed a contract with the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) to implement a major reproductive health care project in 10 districts of KP. It will incorporate community education/awareness raising, health worker training and the establishment of new non-state outlets for the supply of contraceptives.

We have also worked on a concept note for a country-wide community based disability survey: to be submitted to the German government, with the aim of producing the first meaningful data relating to the prevalence of disability in Pakistan, levels of functioning and social integration and sources of support/limiting factors – fingers crossed!